Thrift Inspiration..........For Autumn Tote Bags

Hi everyone!! Whenever I am on thrifting trips I'm always looking out for jackets, bags and jeans as first things to look for. I love thrifting bags as you can generally find really great quality ones that are leather or a good quality fabric for so little. 

If money were no object then I would definitely be choosing this gorgeous patchwork Fallabella bag by Stella McCartney-so many trends all in one: metal chain hardware, the colour of the season-oxblood, faux snakeskin and mock croc, this really is a lovely bag for Autumn:

Stella McCartney Fallabella Tote bag, £760

Earlier this week I found this fabulous leather patchwork oxblood tote bag for £5.99 at a neighbouring town's Oxfam charity shop. It's a perfect size, not too small and not massive but certainly big enough for all essentials and a fold up umbrella too:

It's ideal for daytime wearing and I'm so drawn to the rich colour too. It reminds me of a brown leather slouch patchwork bag that I bought for myself on my first ever girls holiday when I was seventeen from Ibiza and I used it until it fell apart, it really was a special bag and I'm hoping this one will live up to expectations!!

This next find was from my local Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of months ago and I absolutely adore it. It's pure wool carpet and I'm sure it comes from Morocco, it has such a hippy boho chic vibe to it and was a bargainous £3.99:

In the early 90s I went to Morocco for the weekend for a 'Diamond Hunt', it was a tour operator's educational as I worked for a major travel agents at the time. It was an amazing adventure and I brought home a wool rug for my mum that had been hand loomed by local Berbers in the Atlas Mountains. The bag really reminds me of the wool rug that unfortunately is no longer around as my mum got rid of it when she moved house last year.

Do you have handbags that have a sentimental value to you?

Wishing you all a really great weekend, it's pouring with rain and cold and windy where I am at the moment-(ugh) so it really is so right to turn on the heating and get the layers at the ready!!

Vintage Presents:The Classic Car Boot Sale

On Saturday 12 October over 100 classic cars and vintage vehicles will descend on to Southbank Centre’s riverfront for London’s first classic car boot sale, curated Vintage Festival. The Classic Car Boot Sale will take place on the riverfront at Southbank Centre between the Queen’s Walk, Hungerford Bridge and Jubilee Gardens. 
Traders will assemble the finest vintage fashion, homewares and pop culture memorabilia, operating from the boot of their vintage vehicles. Show stopping car displays will include vehicles of all shapes and sizes; from classic cars such as the Aston Martin DB4, to VW campervans and beautiful vintage bicycles.

The event will also boast some of the finest food traders, serving premium street food and craft beers from converted vans and campers. Traders include Engine, who serve artisan smoked sausages, B.O.B. Lobster’s famous lobster rolls and street food favourite, Bleeker Street Burgers. Drinks will be provided by Beetle Juice, a stylish mobile cocktail bar. British Music Experience’s “Traffic Jam”, a renovated Austin Morris J4 Dormobile, will have DJs playing a mix of music inspired and influenced by Lord Kitchener’s 1950s calypso classic London is the Place for Me. In between DJ sets, visitors will be invited to try out playing BME’s selection of instruments, such as a tea chest bass, ukulele and percussion steel pans.

Further musical entertainment comes from Vintage Festival DJs, who will be playing vinyl from the top of an open air London Routemaster. Also appearing at The Classic Car Boot Sale will be [re]design’s Chalkyvan, a rejuvenated campervan redesigned and upgraded to be used as a mobile chalkboard. 

Entry to The Classic Car Boot Sale is £3, and tickets can be purchased at Southbank Centre on the day of the event.

Key Trends for your Winter Wardrobe

Clocks go back

The clocks go back towards the end of this month and winter will be setting in. This means one thing - a change to your winter wardrobe. You don't have to reinvent your whole look for the season but if you want to give a nod to the season's trends then there are some key items that you might like to add to your wardrobe. 

Navy Blue

There is always a colour that is central to the season's wardrobe and this winter it is a very figure friendly navy blue. Softer than black, navy blue is a great neutral colour for any age. The likes of Céline and Chloé sent models down the runway head to toe in navy blue but for a less dramatic look just go for touches. It's a colour worth thinking about for those Christmas parties though instead of your Little Black Dress.

Colourful and Exotic Faux Fur

Last winter fur was everywhere but this year it takes on a whole new look. It is bold and colourful faux fur that takes centre stage. As well as Muppet inspired colours you'll also find exotic prints recreated as fur. On the catwalks Versace sent a model down the runway in a faux zebra print fur coat to a striking effect. There is no need to go the whole Fraggle though: the High Street will be full of pieces with great fur trims that will be enough to add a hint of the trend.

Fun Prints

Animal prints have been on trend for a while now and though this trend isn't going to abate any time soon there is a new style of print on the fabric block this winter. It is fun prints such as polka dots or hearts that are the ones to watch and they can easily bring light-hearted fun to the darker winter months. It is an easy trend to wear but if you don't want to wear big chunks of print then you'll find some gorgeous print scarves that will add an on trend touch to your look.

Mohair

Knits this winter are all about the warmth and cosiness that is mohair. Enjoy the feel of this fabulous fluffy wool against your skin in jumpers, cardigans or even jackets. Treat them well though as this delicate knit needs special care to keep it as its best.

Pastel Pinks

The super girly women out there will be pleased to know that there is another colour high on the seasonal agenda. Pastel powdery pink was a popular choice on the runways and in particular it was coats that were created in this feminine shade. Forget that black coat and do as the likes of Miu Miu and Carven did with a stunning pink coat.

Tweed

You don't have to be a country gent to get away with tweed this winter. Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana and more leading designers sent models clad in full tweed outfits down the runway but there are plenty of ways to introduce tweed to your look this winter. Think about wearing a great tweed blazer over jeans or just a tweed hat to see you through the very chilly months.

Camouflage

If girly pink is definitely not your thing then you might be more interested in the trend for camouflage print that is coming through. Whether it is a top, trousers or accessories this print is the choice for tom boy girls out there.

Masculine tailoring

A more manly approach to tailoring is set to be on trend for winter with trousers suits taking on a sharper edge than previous years. Choose trousers and waistcoat for a stylish boyish look that will set you in good stead for the office. Armani showed this look off to amazing effect on their runways.

My Saturday: Covent Garden in search of Affogato!!

Hi everyone! I hope you had a lovely weekend, the weather where I am was really quite nice-Saturday seemed chillier than Sunday with yesterday being quite lovely and sunny!

Saturday saw a day out in London, covering Covent Garden and Soho in search of a good affogato, some good cuisine and a couple of fashionable treats included! After seeing an instagram of Mrs TNMA having a deliciously looking affogato (I didn't know what it was and had to google it!) I knew I just HAD to try one and wow, what a treat it was too!

Gelatorino in Covent Garden offer fabulous service and let you try before you buy- I had a mix of vanilla gelato and coffee with chocolate chips gelato, with a warm gooey hazelnut ganache and a shot of espresso, all topped off with roasted hazelnuts-what a divine mix!!

Many people were coming in simply for the gelato which was delicious of course, but I'm smitten with the affogato and will definitely have it as a treat EVERY time I visit London now, hehe!! Gelatorino is in Russell Street in the heart of theatreland and I would definitely recommend a visit there if you're in the area:

I wore my thrifted Norwegian cardi jacket-which is it's first outing and just so cosy and warm!!! Zara chelsea boots, Primark faux leather skinny jeans and my trusty black Primark cap. After my little treat we took a wander into Covent Garden and watched the street entertainment which certainly pulls in the crowds and keeps you enraptured- this daredevil was walking a tight rope and juggling knives!

I had to take a quick look into the pop up Chanel shop and had a crafty spritz of Cristalle whilst hubby got chatting to the male assistant:

After having a general browse which included a pop into Zara and a treat for me which I'll show in my next post we then decided to go and have something to eat and were welcomed in to Turkish restaurant Sofra where we enjoyed their healthy menu of mezes and lamb tagine- so very fresh, tasty and delicious and very reasonably priced too:

 I totally forgot to take a picture of my meal but the refreshing mint and lemon tea afterwards was a really lovely way to finish the meal and I knew we would have to take a long stroll to let the meal settle!

After leaving the restaurant we took a wander towards Soho's trendy boutiques and hubby treated himself to a new top. It was then we decided to take a walk back to Holborn where we'd parked the car (free parking from 1.30 Saturday to 8.30 Monday morning) and only 5-10 minutes walk from Covent Garden. There is nothing worse than bringing your car into London and getting stuck in the traffic so we research the best free places to park when we come into London now.

I'm linking this post to the lovely Patti at Not Dead Yet Style for Visible Monday and the gorgeous Claire Justine for her Creative Monday blog hop.

Wishing all a really good week ahead!

The Salvation Army Charity Shop Reward Scheme

Hi everyone!! As you all may be aware, I shop A LOT at my local and neighbouring town's charity shops. For me not only are you donating to a good cause but of course you are doing your bit for the environment by buying secondhand goods.

To be rewarded for charity shopping is a real incentive and as I regularly shop at my local Salvation Army it makes sense to collect their reward cards. As it says on one side of the card, for every £5 spent you receive a stamp and once you receive 10 stamps YOU get a free £5 to spend-what's not to love!!

On the other side of the card is the donation side of being rewarded-buy a re:bag instore for just 99p and everytime you fill it up and donate the contents you can get your card stamped with a £2 credit. Fill up x 5 and you've a massive £10 to spend, so in total you can get a whopping £15 back! 

Each re:bag which has it's contents donated is equivalent to around £20 to the Salvation Army and could help provide a week’s support for a rough sleeper, a day’s vocational training at a Salvation Army day centre for 10 people to help them pursue new careers, or a much needed box of food for a family struggling with poverty at Christmas. In context it really shows how far your bag of unwanted goods can go and it really does make a difference to people around the UK:

Even if you don't necessarily buy clothes from charity shops you can still pick up lovely accessories, costume jewellery, handbags, DVDs, CDs, books and general bric a brac, some of which is still new and can make ideal stocking fillers for Christmas.

There are over 140 shops participating in the scheme and if you click here you can find your local branch plus further information on the schemes.

Of course I had to show you what I managed to get with my £5 reward this week:

A ladies Levi's denim shirt which is perfectly in my size:

A pair of chino's by Gap which are from Spring 2012 and once laundered, pressed and put away will be perfect daytime trousers for Spring next year. You can see they were reduced, I presume because they are discounting the summer items:

So for me I received 2 items for £5 and they will both definitely be worn too-regardless of how cheap items are in charity shops I still don't buy for the sake of it, the item still has to be first wanted and then worn.

I hope this inspires you to check out your local Salvation Army-it is definitely a worthwhile charity to donate to and buy from especially as all profits go to different causes within the UK.

PS- This isn't a sponsored post, just a post from a very satisfied customer!!

Wishing you a really lovely weekend!